Education is a hot topic for both Rick Scott and Alex Sink, who are in the race to become Florida’s next governor.
Scott feels that more students should attend charter and private schools, while Sink argues more money should be given to public schools.
Sink’s position is particularly vague and her tireless rhetoric on education is an example of why America’s education system can’t compete with those of other industrialized nations.
Surprisingly, Scott’s position may be the most relevant this election season ¾Florida’s education system was ranked the 10th best in the nation by Education Week, which hints the state’s school system is beginning to improve. But the issue of school choice and the manner in which children are educated is a long-standing issue begging to be resolved state- and nationwide.
“Parents ought to have the right to choose the school that they want to send their children to,” Scott told the Associated Press.
If Scott wins in November and he is serious about changing the way children are educated in Florida, a start would be to begin to finally shy away from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The test arguably prohibits instructors from teaching subjects of value to students because they must teach repetitive, aimless benchmarks.
For further insight, Scott may want to look to nationally recognized schoolteacher and best-selling author John Gatto on the monopoly public schools have on education in America.
“By preventing a free market in education, a handful of social engineers – backed by the industries that profit from compulsory schooling: teacher colleges, textbook publishers and materials suppliers – ensure that most of our children will not have an education,” said Gatto.
Florida is a large state. It can set standards for how other states that have no solution for failing public schools other than increased funding to let citizens have complete rule over how the next generation is educated. This means, as Scott advocates, more home schooling, charter and private schools, online schools, and less government that is a byproduct of overfunded failing public schools.